Summary

Chapter 5, titled “The Humanities in Africa,” is divided in nine sections, marked with Roman numerals. In Section I, Elizabeth goes to visit her sister, whom she has not seen in twelve years after their mother’s funeral. Her sister Blanche became a nun and is now known as Sister Bridget and lives in Africa. They have tea and small talk. Elizabeth views her sister as a stranger to her children. Section II finds the two women at a graduation ceremony where Blanche is speaking as an “honorary graduand” (119). She speaks about the humanist movement and how textual criticism was invented to study the Bible. Scholars were servants to the teachings of Christ. She wonders why the humanities did not become an area of study until the fifteenth century instead of a period of time closer to the Bible’s creation. She also questions how...